Chicks Dig Metal

...in the robot sense mind you. Just a drawing I cranked out after deciding I wanted a bit of stylization change. I've been doing brush and ink lines for the past two years and it's driving me crazy. SO! You'd think I would've posted something Halloweenie-ish but..to no avail. ...Well... sci-fi sometimes goes into--no. No, I can't even somehow wing it into the orange/black ghoulish pumpkin-killing holiday. Ah well It's alright. Enjoy!

Bad hair day

Another illustration. This one had been bothering me for sometime so it had yet to be posted. Until today! At the last minute, her hair became gray for reasons I wish I had to explain to you. ...Can I still use the lame excuse, 'aesthetically pleasing to the eye'...?

Currently, I am intrigued by bountee and their t-shirt designing competition. ...If I can figure out the fun parts of vector illustration, I'd be glad to join in. Also, I've just signed on to do a small comic from Unleased Productions, a new and upcoming publishing company slash soon-to-be cartooning studio slash likeminded individuals who want to quit their day jobs and do their passion of illustration/sequential art full-time too. It'll be interesting to say the least; I've never done a team effort for comics where someone else inks my work and then another individual colors it in. It worked out for many, many others so I'm being pretty openminded to it. Not sure I'll be able to post anything here from Unleashed, but it's alright. More of my own stuff to come soon if my wrist can handle any inking tomorrow.

Also... if anyone knows any great tips and tricks for Flash animation, I'm teaching myself the program over the next few weeks. Grace me with your insight!

more knitting...

Just a quick-colored version of the ink-art I had previously posted. Gah! I can't believe it's October already!!

I've been contacted for a few odd projects so I might actually be fairly busy and pulled away from the comic pages I've been drawing out.
...Er..not that anyone has seen them (I swear, they'll see the light of day) ...Once they're inked, I'll be sure to post them on here as well.


Cheers!

Not Quite Dead!

Sorry, just some more lineart. I've been in a real slump lately for creating colored work. ...Or wanting to get out of bed and greet the day at all save for dragging my butt to work. This is just a possible sketch for the cover of my next origami comic. I've drawn out about 9 pages or so for it which will have to be doubled or more to be complete. ...I didn't realize this story was going to be a lot longer than the other short lil comics I do. All the better for whoever is looking at it, no?
Cheers!

Going Overboard

As soon as Autumn hits, it's always a rush straight to the holidays. We somehow overlook the simpler things like hey, the days are getting shorter and the sky doesn't look as high. Back in the wee days when I was a store associate in JoAnn Fabrics, Halloween decor would hit right on the first of July. Christmas would bowl over everything immediately as Halloween was on the brink of ending. It's the same case for printing designs.


It's that time of year where I begin to think of what my Christmas postcard will look like. This illustration came along which has yet to be colored. I'll post an updated version of it soon. This however, probably won't be used.

But I thought it was fun and fanciful and I need more imagery like that in my life.

Cheers!

sm[art] auction

I just received an e-mail from Bitch Magazine with some information on an art show/silent auction they plan to have in order to raise money for their establishment. They're a non-profit reader supported company so all proceeds go back to the magazine. It's great for exposure if you'd like people to see your work. I plan to donate a few prints as they kindly reminded me that donations are tax deductible (yaaay) and I'd enjoy the remote possibility of someone having a framed illustration of mine.

If you have prints, they've stated that it would be best if they were framed but not to let that stop you from donating any work. You can also send clothes you make or buttons or whatever your lovely mind fancies.

All donations can be sent to this address:

Bitch Magazine

Attn: sm[art]

4930 29th Avenue

Portland, OR 97211

Cheers!

Open For Business

My new card, that is. Long, long ago right before graduating college, I had swiftly conjured up a business card to use for networking in the world of illustration


...Needless to say, it was barely legible and any text information on it was hard to read due to some watercoloring that went sorely out of control, teamed with my inability to want to remotely Photoshop my work at the time. I believe most people wouldn't even dream of trying to contact me due to the severe eye-strain I may have caused them (deepest apologies to anyone who picked up my card at conventions or was handed one by yours truly). So! This is the new design to contact me by and hopefully it's easier to read, see, enjoy, and... utilize to its full potential.
Currently, I've been working on some stuff for Tiny Mantis, and they're cranking out some games for Nikelodeon. Very fun! I'm not allowed to post any of the work publically, it's exciting nonetheless!

Half Chinese

Just a lil something I've been working on for some upcoming call for entries/competitions. I think this will become a small series if I can crank out 2-3 more on the same subject. I'm still stuck on the origami thing. I really can't get away from it at this point. It's something I watched my mother do all the time as a child and I'd struggle to make my paper fold as perfectly as hers. I also realized that not every parent was as adept at folding paper as breathing like my mom. ...or ate with chopsticks nearly every night as a family... or had soy sauce readily available on the counter at all times.

With my mother being Chinese, it's been a struggle to find an identity for myself. I just felt I should make some sort of homage to that. ...and have it a little less obvious than creating a drawing of myself really fretting over which little circle to check off on the SATs when they say "check only one ethnicity - Asian or White or..." ...I think they've completely changed those forms by now though, haven't they?

That's all for now. Cheers!

...sketch sketch sketch...!

The sketchbook section of my site is pretty... neglected to say the least. I rarely scan in sketches and just go for the kill by posting finalized illustrations. So here's two out of ...maybe four new sketches that I've put on my site?

Drawing others with ink-art is always exciting. I'm a bit envious of people who can have pierced ears or tattoos. My skin is sensitive to the point that I develop keloids, or excess scar tissue, if I'm say... punctured by a needle. I've gone to the point of constructing my own earrings from sterling silver wire so it can wrap around my ear to have it can look like I have pierced ears. ...A bit much, I know.



This was supposed to be colored for Ballistic's EXOTIQUE 3 but I never got the chance to color it. Ah well! I always like old sci-fi movies that show clothing that lights up or blinks (like that jacket David Hasselhoff wore on the Berlin Wall). I also have a bit of an obsession with masks, including gas-preventive ones.

...I guess my future holds toxic fumes when the ozone completely burns out. And light up clothing that we'll need to defend with firearms...?

Cheers!

...Too Many Pinwheels...

I had misplaced this file about a month ago and never got the chance to complete this illustration until now.

'Propulsion' is a companion piece to "Compulsion" which can be found here on my site. I'm just glad to have it out of the way.





In the meantime, here's a few random photos from the San Diego ComicCon, some of which were taken by Tony Canepa because my camera likes to make everything look very very... gray. First is the sight of over 100,000 people around the center, followed by lego-built models of R2-D2 and C-3PO, the best looking group of randomly met illustrators for dinner, some original pages of Will Eisners(going for a few hundred dollars to a few grand), and more of our merry band of awesome dinnermates.